1. Herb Stevens Jeff Lesk Genevieve Hulick

2. Understanding Community Solar
Financing Community Solar
Transferring the Benefits to
Low-Income Residents

3. 16 states and D.C. have enacted Community Solar Laws

4. Community Solar - Shared Solar
Community solar programs allow multiple energy customers to subscribe to shared solar project.

5. How Community Solar Works
1. Solar Panels
Sunlight falls on solar panels. The solar panels convert the sun’s energy into direct current (DC) electricity which is sent to an inverter.
2. Inverter
The inverter converts direct current (DC) electricity into alternating current (AC) so it can be used in our homes and businesses.
3. Meter
The meter measures the amount of electricity produced by the solar panels before the electricity is fed into the utility grid.
4. Utility Company
The utility company keeps track of how much electricity (how many kilowatt-hours) is fed into the grid generated by the solar panels.
5. Utility Bill
The utility does not deliver the actual electricity from the grid to individual customers. Instead it calculates the value of this electricity and provides a cash credit on the specified customer’s monthly electric bill. The customer may live nearby or across the city.

6. Community Solar Project

7. Understanding Community Solar
Financing Community Solar
Transferring the Benefits to
Low-Income Residents

8. World Changing Ideas “The biggest thing stopping the sun is money.”
Image from:

9. Three parts to financing community solar
Tax equity
Debt
Nonprofit Equity
Tax equity: energy tax credits (federal subsidy)
Debt: SRECS (state subsidy) and loan
Nonprofit equity contributions

10. Tax Credits and SRECs
Federal Energy Tax Credits and Production Tax Credits
State Tax Credits
SRECs = Solar Renewable Energy Credits
SRECs are NOT tax credits. They are a credit against a utility’s obligation to produce or purchase renewable energy.

11. Community Solar Finance Structure
DC Residents
New Partners Community Solar Corp.
Funds loaned to Project Company to install solar panels
Nonprofit manager
Tax Equity Investor
PEPCO
Bank
Pepco allocates billing credits to low-income residents in DC
Company sells SRECs to pay expenses and debt service on loan
Project Company
Owns panels
Project Company sends energy from solar panels to the grid
SREC Purchaser
Facility qualifies as Community Renewable Energy Facility under Community Solar Law
Building Owner
License for roof space

12. Understanding Community Solar
Financing Community Solar
Transferring the Benefits to
Low-Income Residents

13. The world is flat – or at least DC is

14. DC government Solar program
DC Solar for All initiative – expand solar capacity in the District and provide the benefits of locally generated solar energy to low-income households, small businesses, nonprofits, and seniors
Part of the Renewable Portfolio Standard Expansion Amendment Act of 2016
Funded by the Renewable Energy Development Fund (REDF)
Goal: reduce by at least 50% the electric bills of at least 100,000 of the District’s low-income households with high energy burdens by December 31, 2032

15. Nixon Peabody’s New Office 799 9th Street NW

16. Installation

17. Installation on vertical wall

18. BEFORE, and ………

19. ……AFTER

20. PEPCO Energy here Used there
Office building delivers electricity to utility
Utility gives residents a credit each month on their electric bills
PEPCO

22. Impact and Energy Produced
New Partners’ first phase has generated over $25,000 in energy. All of this has been transferred to low-income households.
Each household has received over $285 in credits on their electric bills.
This money can instead be used for education, transportation, groceries, and rent.

23. Second Phase – 1 MW of Community Solar
New Partners has initiated a second phase to install MW of capacity – more than five times the size of the first project
325 additional households will receive benefits from these solar arrays located across the city- including those arrays located at the American Chemical Society.
These households will receive $500 a year to reduce their energy burden in half in accordance with the District’s Solar for All Program.

24. Questions, Ideas, or additional Information?
New Partners Community Solar
Herb Stevens
Jeff Lesk
Genevieve Hulick
To ensure compliance with IRS requirements, we inform you that any tax advice
contained in this communication is not intended or written to be used, and cannot
be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code
or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or
matter addressed herein.